Redemption
(1930)
65 mins | Melodrama | 5 April 1930
Cast:
John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Conrad Nagel [ More ]Director:
Fred NibloWriter:
Dorothy FarnumCinematographer:
Percy HilburnEditor:
Margaret BoothProduction Designer:
Cedric GibbonsProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.The onscreen cast and credits list Augustin Borgato as "Petushkov," but actor Nigel De Brulier is called Petushkov in the tavern and outside the courtroom. Some sources credit actor Tully Marshall with the role of "Artimiev," while the onscreen credits attribute the role to Charles Quartermaine. Marshall appears in the film as the blackmailer who turns "Feyda" in to the police, but his character name is not discernible. In addition, the role of the "Magistrate" is credited to George Spelvin in the onscreen credits, yet Mack Swain appears in that role in the courtroom scene.
According to FD news items, a silent version of Redemption was filmed prior to the sound version. A production directory in the 20 Apr 1929 Exhibitors Herald-World places the starting date for Redemption at 25 Feb 1929. According to a LAT article on the film on 31 Jan 1929, director Fred Niblo intended to make the productions distinctive, rather than simply adding dialogue to the silent version. Contemporary sources suggest that the film went into production in mid to late Mar 1929 and was completed between late May and mid-Jun 1929. Some reviews of the released film suggest that the long delay between the picture's completion and release may have been due to extensive re-cuts. It is possible that the cast variations noted above were due to differences between the silent and dialogue versions or to post-production changes.
News items add Robert Wilber and Michael Vavitch to the cast, but their appearance in the released film has not been verified. The LAT article reported that Virginia Valli ...
The onscreen cast and credits list Augustin Borgato as "Petushkov," but actor Nigel De Brulier is called Petushkov in the tavern and outside the courtroom. Some sources credit actor Tully Marshall with the role of "Artimiev," while the onscreen credits attribute the role to Charles Quartermaine. Marshall appears in the film as the blackmailer who turns "Feyda" in to the police, but his character name is not discernible. In addition, the role of the "Magistrate" is credited to George Spelvin in the onscreen credits, yet Mack Swain appears in that role in the courtroom scene.
According to FD news items, a silent version of Redemption was filmed prior to the sound version. A production directory in the 20 Apr 1929 Exhibitors Herald-World places the starting date for Redemption at 25 Feb 1929. According to a LAT article on the film on 31 Jan 1929, director Fred Niblo intended to make the productions distinctive, rather than simply adding dialogue to the silent version. Contemporary sources suggest that the film went into production in mid to late Mar 1929 and was completed between late May and mid-Jun 1929. Some reviews of the released film suggest that the long delay between the picture's completion and release may have been due to extensive re-cuts. It is possible that the cast variations noted above were due to differences between the silent and dialogue versions or to post-production changes.
News items add Robert Wilber and Michael Vavitch to the cast, but their appearance in the released film has not been verified. The LAT article reported that Virginia Valli and Renée Adorée had been signed to play the two female leads. The role apparently intended for Valli was played by Eleanor Boardman in the released film. Although Redemption marked John Gilbert’s second released starring role in a sound film, it was completed prior to His Glorious Night, which was released in late Sep 1929 (see entry).
For information on other film adaptations of Leo Tolstoy's play, please consult the entry below for the 1916 World Film Corp. production The Weakness of Man, directed by Barry O'Neil and starring Holbrook Binn and Eleanor Woodruff.
Feyda Protasoff, a dark-haired Russian wastrel, who ran through most of his inheritance, wins the love of Lisa away from his friend Victor Karenin. Feyda and Lisa soon marry and have a child, but Feyda tires of his staid domestic life and returns to his old haunts for gambling and drinking. When his gambling debts force him to sell his estate, Victor shows his friendship by purchasing it for a high price at an auction. Feyda soon becomes estranged from his wife and takes up with his former Gypsy sweetheart, Masha. Hoping to hasten a divorce, Victor visits Feyda and offers him money. Later, with Masha's help, Feyda devises a plan for a clean break with Lisa by leaving his clothes next to a river, making everyone think he has drowned. Lisa then marries Victor. Sometime later, when Feyda is drunkenly relating his story to a sailor, a man overhears him and suggests a blackmail scheme. Feyda rebukes the man, who then calls the police to arrest Feyda for fraud. In front of a magistrate, a tearful Lisa and Victor protest that they were convinced of Feyda's death before they married and thus are not bigamists. The magistrate then calls Feyda, who confesses that he had faked his death and Lisa and Victor are blameless. Faced with charges of fraud, as well as the knowledge that he is destroying the happiness of Lisa and Victor, Feyda has his friend Petushkov bring him a gun outside the courtroom and shoots himself, calling for Masha as he ...
Feyda Protasoff, a dark-haired Russian wastrel, who ran through most of his inheritance, wins the love of Lisa away from his friend Victor Karenin. Feyda and Lisa soon marry and have a child, but Feyda tires of his staid domestic life and returns to his old haunts for gambling and drinking. When his gambling debts force him to sell his estate, Victor shows his friendship by purchasing it for a high price at an auction. Feyda soon becomes estranged from his wife and takes up with his former Gypsy sweetheart, Masha. Hoping to hasten a divorce, Victor visits Feyda and offers him money. Later, with Masha's help, Feyda devises a plan for a clean break with Lisa by leaving his clothes next to a river, making everyone think he has drowned. Lisa then marries Victor. Sometime later, when Feyda is drunkenly relating his story to a sailor, a man overhears him and suggests a blackmail scheme. Feyda rebukes the man, who then calls the police to arrest Feyda for fraud. In front of a magistrate, a tearful Lisa and Victor protest that they were convinced of Feyda's death before they married and thus are not bigamists. The magistrate then calls Feyda, who confesses that he had faked his death and Lisa and Victor are blameless. Faced with charges of fraud, as well as the knowledge that he is destroying the happiness of Lisa and Victor, Feyda has his friend Petushkov bring him a gun outside the courtroom and shoots himself, calling for Masha as he dies.
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